Saks, which employs 80 people in Stamford, was a prized anchor when it arrived at the mall in 1983, only a year after the shopping center opened. But declining sales following the biggest economic crash since the Great Depression led officials at the New York City-based luxury department store chain to close the location early next year.

An employee of the Stamford store declined to comment on the matter, referring questions to Saks' corporate headquarters.

"The store does not meet our profitability standards," said Saks spokeswoman Julia Bentley. "We have closed 10 underperforming stores since 2010. We hope that several of our associates will be able to transfer to other area locations. The timing of that is yet to be determined."

Saks periodically evaluates the productivity, profitability and potential of all its 43 Saks Fifth Avenue stores and 65 Off 5th locations, and determines if closing a store is necessary, said Steve Sadove, chairman and chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement when the news was announced earlier this week.

The mall itself can bear some of the blame for the closing of the store, said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, a New Canaan-based adviser to Fortune 500 consumer service and retail companies.

"It's a reflection of the mall itself. For Taubman, it's not a great mall. It's a challenging location, but it's better now," he said, referring to renovations and expansion completed in 2007.

Saks' full-line stores have faced fiscal challenges, he said, and the company is shifting some attention to its Off 5th stores, Johnson said.

"It had a challenging fourth-quarter holiday season, but I suspect that this was already in the works," he said, noting that company has a popular store on Greenwich Avenue in Greenwich.

The company, which on Jan. 29 announced it was closing a store in Dallas, reported net income of $22.6 million, or 14 cents per share, for the third quarter ended Oct. 27, compared with $17.8 million or 11 cents per share for the third quarter of 2011. It had sales of $713.2 million in the third quarter, compared with $692 million in the third quarter of 2011.

Anchor stores at most malls have 25-year leases followed by five-year extensions, Johnson said, and no anchor tenants leave a mall without the consent of the landlord.

"Taubman may have a new tenant lined up at a more favorable rent, knowing that Saks was interested in leaving," he said.

The mall is in a good position to rebound from Saks' departure, said Meredith Keeler, general manager at the mall, who took her post last May.

"Our sales at the center continue to be strong. We believe they won't be impacted by Saks closing," said Keeler, who is working with management at Taubman headquarters in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., to find another anchor tenant. "We're looking at a variety of options."

Besides Saks, Macy's and Barnes & Noble are anchors of the 855,000-square-foot, four-level mall, which has about 130 stores and restaurants.

In November 2007, Taubman unveiled a 140,000-square-foot addition at the mall with a restaurant row at the main entrance. It also celebrated the arrival of a Barnes & Noble and H&M Clothing among nine new stores and restaurants. The horseshoe-shaped cluster of restaurants around the entrance includes P.F. Chang's, Cosi and Plan B Burger, and has created a bustling, if at times confusing, atmosphere as customers come in from Tresser Boulevard to shop or eat.

"Stamford has been a pretty successful center. I wouldn't think there will be a lot of problems," he said. "There are more retailers now looking to expand than a few years ago, and there are chains from outside the U.S. looking for prime retail space."

The standard formula for malls is changing, Tron said, with some adding retail chains like Target. The space could also be subdivided and leased to complementary retailers.

"You could build a lifestyle component with retailers," he said.

Mall customers shopping on Thursday expressed mixed opinions about Saks' departure. Elizabeth Hobbes, of Darien, was on her way into the store, and said she'll be sorry to see the retailer go.

"I will miss it because I work nearby," Hobbes said. "But I'll probably go to Greenwich."

Catherine Granelli noted that the change in tenancy is likely a sign of a change in the mall's tone, though she's not a Saks shopper herself.

"To be honest, I never go in there," Granelli, a Stamford resident, said. "The mall used to be a little more upscale and I think some of the stores don't have the same clientele (as Saks) anymore. The kind of woman who's going to shop at Saks is not going to want to shop next to GameStop."